“The Duel That Never Was” should be the name if this game. Without getting into the real reasons behind the Green Bay Packers starting a second year quarterback for his first game ever, let’s consider what that means.
Firs of all, Jordan Love has some huge shoes to fill:
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• Bart Starr started his first game in the 8th week of the 1959 season vs Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts in a 28-to-24 loss. Starr went 14-for-40 that day, but then went on to win his last four games of the 1959 season making it to the playoffs, where his coach, Vince Lombardi, etched his one and only playoff game loss. Ever.
• “Brett Favre’s debut game [was] on Sept. 20, 1992, when he entered in the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals and led the Packers to a 24-23 victory after they started the season 0-2” From SI.com. Farve’s first win came against Boomer Esiason.
• “Aaron Rodgers was very impressive in his first start [in 2008] for the Green Bay Packers, going 18-for-22 for 178 yards and a touchdown while also accumulating a touchdown run as the Packers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-19. –From The Bleacher Report In Rodgers’ first game, he beat QB Tarvaris Jackson.
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In the past 29 years, since September 20, of 1992, the Packers have had 4 other QBs — not name Favre or Rodgers — start a total of 18 games including: Matt Flynn (6), Scott Tolzien (2), Seneca Wallace (1) and Brett Hundley (9).
While it’s likely that none of that history will be weighing on Jordan Love today, he now goes up against one of the best to ever play the game in Patrick Mahomes. From SportsCasting.com just this past month:
“In 50 career starts, Mahomes has thrown for more than 15,000 yards and 128 touchdowns. He’s already on his way to a Hall of Fame career, and he might just be the NFL’s best player already.”
In 2021, Mahomes is first in INTs, but also, 3rd in yards passing, second in attempts, and 4th in Passing TDs. We may want to give the Chiefs OL some props for this next one, as Mahomes is 16th in the league with 16 sacks, but he’s 25th in sack yards lost. At least part of that is due to his OL.
If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you already know how great Patrick Mahomes can be. So, what’s the problem?
Mahomes Mistakes
What’s the Bucs HC like to say? “No risk it, no biscuit.” Well, Patrick Mahomes has been the embodiment of that phrase because over the past three seasons (not including this one) he’s had 22 possible INTs dropped by defenders. That’s 7.3 per year. So, can we conclude that Patrick Mahomes will continue down this path. Maybe… probably… for the most part, yes. However, he’s said something like, “I need to learn to take what the defense gives me” enough times now that no one should be surprised to see him make those kinds of adjustments to his game in the future, maybe beginning today.
Because the Kansas City Chiefs are currently leading the league in total giveaways with 19 — after 8 games — the big question is: when will they get that bad habit under control? This game vs the Packers appears to come down to: will the Chiefs turn it over or won’t they?
Sweet Memories
It was nearly ten years ago — December of 2011 — that I penned a piece for ArrowheadAddict called, “Honey, I Shrunk The Packers” (graphic below). That was the game in which Romeo Crennel was serving as interim head coach and the 13-and-0 Packers came into Arrowhead as the league’s last unbeaten team. The Packers had won Super Bowl XLV ten months earlier and the perfect 1972 Dolphins team was waiting in the wings, to celebrate in Miami, when the Packers lost. Crennel admitted he was trying to get Rodgers off his mark because he thought K.C. had a better chance of winning, which they did. Also worth noting was that Tamba Hali had three (3) sacks and Kyle Orton was the Chiefs QB that day and he went 23-of-31 for 299 yards.
Injury Reports
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Weather Report
It look like idyllic weather for today’s game.
The Influence of Melvin Ingram
Some believe that the presence of Melvin Ingram should be minimized. Especially because he’s “over-the-hill” at 32 years old. I’m not one of those non-believers. Neither is Kent Swanson:
Prior to the season, Chiefs GM Brett Veach attempted to sign Ingram as a Free Agent. I was in support of tha idea then, as was David Bell. I grew up just outside of LA cheering for Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier, Lamar Lundy, and Deacon Jones. Clearly, the Chiefs DL in the first four weeks of the 2021 season have been the antithesis of that old Fearsome Foursome.
While this DL has been horrifically bad in their first half dozen games, there is hope on the horizon. One of the reasons I thought Melvin Ingram would be a big help, before the year started, was what he could provide as a crucial fourth element. If K.C. had signed Ingram then, they may never have found out that while Chris Jones is a top three IDL in the league… he’s not a top 50 DE. CJ needed t find that out for himself, and hopefully he has. The addition of Melvin Ingram is like setting able with four strong legs. IOW, a three legged table is bound to topple (if you’re not running a 3-4 defense, which uses five rushers, and includes 2 OLBs).
Now that CJ is more aware of his limitations as a DE, he can move back inside more often, and when he does play DE, he has a much better idea of what he can, and can’t do (which includes setting a firm edge vs running plays). With Melvin Ingram in the mix, and able to offer a stout advantage from the edge, CJ’s utilization on the inside will again be maximized.
You may or may not agree with this evaluation on Ingram, but when you line up all the DL players the Chiefs have available, Ingram is going to offer a definite jump upward within the whole group. In fact, he may end up being the Chiefs best DE by the end of this season.
Chiefs-Packers Game Summary
Perhaps Charles Goldman of ChiefsWire sums up this game best when he says:
“Defensively, the Chiefs need to pin their ears back and get after Jordan Love. They’ll need to earn the right to do so by stopping the run, something they’ve done better in recent weeks. That won’t be an easy task with two talented backs in Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. The Chiefs Kingdom also needs to play their part to make Arrowhead Stadium deafeningly loud for Love.”
Goldman goes on to say:
“With injuries on the defensive line for the Packers, this has the makings of a ground-and-pound game for Kansas City. Green Bay allows on average 115 rushing yards per game, which ranks 13th-most in the NFL. Feed the ball to Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore….”
If Andy Reid can get the running game going early, as well as the short-quick passing game (as David Bell reminds us), the Chiefs should be able to control this game, and more importantly, the score.
One ore thought before I go:
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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